• Lucky Strike – Hollywood
  • Citywalk – Orlando
  • Los Angeles
  • Client: US Borax
  • LACMA – Broad Contemporary Art Museum
  • Christopher Hansen – Los Angeles

            From the elegant and civilized Champs Elysées in Paris to the rugged and remote Mojave desert in Southern California, Los Angeles photographer Weldon Brewster has created distinct images that truly capture the very essence of a particular time and place. Such diverse clients as Arthur Anderson, Ernst & Young, Hugo Boss, Kaiser Permanente, Calvin Klein, and Universal Studios are included in Weldon’s architectural portfolio. In addition, industrial and annual report clients such as Amerigon, Exxon, Rio Tinto, STM, U.S. Borax, and the Western States Petroleum Association have all benefitted from Weldon’s well-focused attention to his craft.

            From being raised on a farm in Denton, Texas to attending the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Weldon has a unique ability to effectively relate to everyone. From art directors to cowboys, roughnecks to sous chefs, and miners to set designers, this is a unique gift he exploits well in order to maintain a smooth-running atmosphere in any situation.

            Another gift Weldon possesses is his tenacious work ethic. As a dedicated location photographer, he often runs through brick walls for his clients, which has resulted in shoots lasting up to 27 hours straight. Actually, as Weldon does not possess super-human strength, the running through of the brick wall is obviously a metaphor. However, as he is an accomplished technical climber, you can easily get him to scale the wall instead, and happily so.

           

Industrial Photography

            One of Weldon’s favorite things is industrial shooting. Being from Texas, he loves telling a good story, and industrial shoots afford a wealth of new tales to tell. Such tales include: aerial photography performed while strapped in a harness, hanging out of the open door of a helicopter; chasing down the 20-mule team across the Mojave desert in 114 degree heat; filming safely less than 100 feet from over 100,000 lbs of explosives; playing with over-sized Tonka toys ranging from 240-ton haul trucks to 2.5 million lb shovels; shooting from moving horses and wagons; and successfully retrieving an 8x10 camera off of a tugboat in the L.A. harbor (the client fell in… but the film was safe!).

            Throughout these adventures, Weldon has amassed important safety and technical information that ensures his shoots are not only effective, but also result in everyone leaving the set in one piece. This knowledge includes the proper safety procedures for everything from oil rigs, to working mines, to industrial plants, to blast sites. By the way, if you’re near a blast, be suspicious of rocks that don’t seem to me moving upward in the air… those are the ones headed straight for you.

            Returning for a minute to his afore-mentioned amiability, Weldon has a knack for relating to everyone from every walk of life. His abilities to listen to, communicate with, and gain the trust of working men and women in the field certainly contribute to the excellent industrial photography that his clients receive.

 

Architectural Photography

            Getting down and dirty for industrial shoots is only one of Weldon’s talents. His clarity with detail and command of light make him an excellent choice in the realm of  an architectural photographer, as well. That’s not to say that there aren’t stories there, too. Getting the shot has entailed: clients setting Weldon’s hair on fire (not intentionally); shooting 49 out of 60 hours over a weekend; and again hanging high above the ground in a safety harness, albeit this time out of the window of a 5 story building in Los Angeles (let’s keep that one from his mother, shall we?). There are many, many more adventures to tell, but non-disclosure agreements prevent them from being listed here. Suffice to say that Weldon has the discretion and patience to work in challenging environments such as Hollywood.

 

Fine Art Photography

            As successful as Weldon has been with his industrial and architectural work, his creativity also shines brightly in the realm of fine art photography. Not only is his eye in tune with the discipline and detail of commercial photography, but also with the emotion and character of the less tangible. Seeing possibilities in any situation, Weldon’s photos capture the very feeling of the moment regardless of the setting, from the stunning vistas of Yosemite National Park to the dark mysteries of Carnivale in Venice, Italy.

            Naturally, stories are bountiful here, too. In pursuit of his art, Weldon has come nose to nose with a black bear while tucked snugly in his sleeping bag (a bear twinkie!), rappeled down a 600 ft drop in Utah with 50 lbs of camera gear, found himself within 15 ft of the Queen of England, been deprived of sleep before a dawn shoot in Arizona by a biker named Gremlin, who insisted on dragging down a tree with his motorcycle, and capsized his Kayak somewhere off of the California coast (dry bags are definitely worth the investment).

Los Angeles - Salt Lake City : 1-310-308-5727

©2009 Weldon Brewster

Copyright to all of the photographs displayed on this site are owned by Weldon Brewster.You may not sell, publish, license or otherwise distribute any of these photographs without the written permission of the photographer.